My wife and I felt secure with our home defense plan. Both of us knew our part and felt confident in executing it. Then, the home intruder alarm went off one night around 3 a.m., dragging us both up from sound sleep. My wife promptly grabbed the cordless handset and retreated...

For many Americans, one of the big goals in their lives is to reach the point when they can move out of the city and begin to enjoy country living. It may be farm/ranch property, or just a few acres in the country where they can enjoy the quiet and solitude. One thing to...

The unfortunate fact about lethal force events: they’re a roll of the dice. You never exactly know when they’ll happen or what form they’ll take. You might face a single assailant in the familiar confines of your own home or multiple in the alien surroundings...

John Haviland writes, "Is a handgun an essential piece of a big-game hunter’s kit or a couple pounds of redundant weight dragging down a hunter’s pants?
For years I carried a .41 Mag. revolver and a rifle while hunting deer and elk. When game appeared, though,...

Eric Draper went deer hunting for the first time almost 30 years ago.
“When I get a chance to shoot a beautiful trophy buck, I still get the same elevated heart rate,” said Draper, 42, of Cuero. “When it comes to...

Hunters taking to the field for this weekend’s mule deer season opener in six southeast Panhandle counties are encouraged to take a closer look before pulling the trigger as new antler restriction regulations take effect.
The...

T.J. Parmele writes, "A tsunami of fond memories hit me with the full force that nostalgia can offer: the clang of steel, the mechanical click clack movement of levers and hammers falling, and the wash of sulfuric-tinged smoke. All of this filled my head while I re-watched...

December is nearly upon us, and with it comes the holiday season. It is gift giving time and firearm enthusiasts can be notoriously difficult to buy for due to varying niches and the sheer variety of products on the market....

Wendy LaFever writes, "Our Leupold Optics Academy instructor looked at us over our steaming cups of coffee and told us that we were going to be shooting targets at 1,100 meters later that very afternoon. I gulped, inadvertently scalding my throat with my coffee. I'm sorry,...

While it may seem like putting a good shot on an animal means the hunt was a success, this is usually just the beginning. Locating and dressing an animal is an arduous task in its own right, and requires not only skill, but speed. As soon as the blood stops circulating,...

There’s no escaping the 9mm. Like the air we breathe, in the shooting world the potent little German cartridge is everywhere at once — pistols, revolvers, carbines. Not that this is a bad thing.
Yes, it’s as common as road dirt nowadays, but there’s...

The prevalence of home-based tinkering on firearms is at an all-time high, particularly thanks to guns like the AR-15 that allow for an incredible range of modularity and customization. To serve that expanding market, many manufacturers are offering purpose-built tools that...

It's taken quite a beating since the 6.5 Creedmoor has popped onto scene, but the fact remains that the .308 Winchester is a very cool cartridge, whether you punch paper and steel or use it as a hunting cartridge. It's also one of the cartridges truly worthy of the "inherently...

The most accurate precision rifles available are nothing without a riflescope of substantial quality. And such a riflescope is nothing without a reticle capable of helping you deliver a bullet on target from a long, long distance.

When we all head out hunting for deer, though, we could all agree there are certain properties we’re looking for in certain cartridges. Given your personal hunting situation, you may need a round capable of plowing through brush, or one that reach out and do damage...

Chronic Wasting Disease (also known as CWD) is a mortal deer disease that affects cervids in and out of the wild. Moose, elk, and deer can all be subjected to this disease. While researchers don’t believe it can be transmitted...